I.   NAME.

The name of this organization is: Professional Forum of the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries. It is hereinafter referred to as the Forum.

  II.  PURPOSES.

A. To address the professional interests and concerns of its members and to be a collective voice on issues related to their professions;

B. To recommend to the Dean of the Libraries representatives of the Libraries to serve on University committees;

C. To review and revise, as needed, the Career Status Recognition Policy.

 III.  MEMBERSHIP.

       A.   The voting membership of the Forum consists of all exempt staff in The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries. 

       B.   All meetings of the Professional Forum may be attended by non-exempt staff members.  They are excluded from quorum counts, are not accorded voting privileges, and may not hold office or serve on standing or university committees.

  IV.  YEAR.

       The Forum will operate on the basis of a year beginning September first and ending August thirty-first.

   V.  OFFICERS.

       A.   The Chair

            1.  On September first of each year the Chair Elect succeeds to the Chair.

            2.  The duties of the Chair are:

                a.  To preside over all meetings of the Forum;

                b.  To exercise general supervision over the business of the Forum including preparation of agendas, proposals to be considered and minutes of meetings;

                c.  To communicate for the Forum with the administration of the Libraries, and with other organizations as required;

                d.  To represent the Forum at meetings of the Library Management Team; and,

                e.  To serve as Chair of the Professional Advisory Committee; (unless the Chair of the Forum is also a Library Management Team member, in which case a Professional Advisory Committee Chair shall be elected from non-Library Management Team members—see Article X, Section C, Paragraph 11) and,

                f.  To fulfill such other responsibilities as are given to this office elsewhere in
                                                 these Bylaws or by action of the Forum.

            3.  If the Chair becomes vacant for any reason, the Chair Elect immediately succeeds to it for the balance of the year as well as for the following year provided that succession occurs after March first.  No one shall serve for more than eighteen consecutive months as Chair.

            4.  The person serving as Chair may not be elected as the next Chair Elect.

            5.  The Chair may appoint a member Parliamentarian to advise in the planning and conduct of meetings.

       B.   The Chair Elect.

            1.  A Chair Elect is elected annually from the membership to serve in that office for one year.

            2.  The duties of the Chair Elect are:

                a.  To assume the duties of the Chair in the absence of that officer;

                b.  To succeed to the office of Chair for the following year;

                c.  To record the minutes of each meeting; and

                d.  To fulfill such other responsibilities as are given to the office elsewhere in these Bylaws or by action of the Forum.

            3.  If the office of Chair Elect becomes vacant because the incumbent succeeds to the Chair, or for any other reason, an election will be held to choose a new Chair Elect.

  VI.  MEETINGS.

       A.   The Forum meets:

            1.  Monthly

            2.  And, as needed on call of the Chair.

       B.   QUORUM.  A majority of the voting membership must be present to constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business.

  VII. STANDING COMMITTEES.

       A.   The Standing Committees of the Forum are: Professional Development Committee, Career Status Committee, and such other standing committees that are established.

       B.   Professional Development Committee.

            1.  The Professional Development Committee consists of members elected for terms of two years.  The terms are staggered.

            2.  The duties and functions of the Professional Development Committee are:

                a.  To identify topics regarding professional development which would be of sufficient interest to the staff for the committee to schedule speakers or workshops within the library.  To then seek funding, publicize, and evaluate the speakers or workshops;

b. To make recommendations to the Library Executive Team (LET) on research proposals submitted by professional staff.

                c.  To appoint subcommittees with the purpose of planning/managing special projects of the committee.

       C.   Career Status Committee.

            1.  The Career Status Committee is composed of six members, four of whom are elected at large by the staff covered by the Career Status Recognition Policy and two appointed by the Dean of Libraries.  The terms of all members will be two years with eligibility for re-election or re-appointment.  Terms will be staggered so as to maintain three new and three returning members.  Members may not be in their probationary period, and should have no less than three years of professional library or archival experience.

            2.  The Career Status Committee will maintain a calendar for the career status recognition process and will issue calls for action related to that calendar.  The Committee will serve as a resource for staff and others who have questions or require clarification about the policies and procedures related to career status recognition.

            3.  The Committee will receive nominations for career status recognition and will receive all documentation related to specific requests.  The Committee will also be asked to review the materials related to a search and appointment.  It will judge the appropriateness and completeness of documentation and will request additional documentation when necessary.  The Committee will make recommendations to the Dean of Libraries related to each request for career status recognition it receives unless the requester withdraws his or her request.

4. The Committee will carry out its responsibilities in accordance with the Career Status Recognition Policy and will refer any needed revisions of that policy to the Professional Forum for discussion.

       D.   General Provisions Relating to Standing Committees.

            1.  In March of each year, the chairs of the        individual committees will indicate to the Professional Forum the number of persons (excluding ex-officio and classified staff members) needed for each of the committees to accomplish its year's work.  If, at any time during the course of the year, the chair of any of the committees feels that more members are needed because of some unforeseen increase in the workload of said committee, he or she may add, on an ad-hoc basis, an additional member or members after notifying the Professional Forum of the need.

           2.  Each Standing Committee organizes itself annually by the election of a chair and
   any officers it deems necessary.

            3.  Each committee must meet at least two times each year.  A majority of the members of any committee must be present to constitute a quorum.

            4.  Each Standing Committee is responsible for developing a detailed statement of the policies and procedures to be followed in its activities. These statements and any subsequent revisions will be submitted to the Forum for approval.

            5.  Each Standing Committee is to submit to the Forum a written report of its activities by no later than October first of each year.

6. Any Standing Committee may have questions or proposals on any subject relevant to its charge referred to it by the Forum and is empowered to make recommendations to the Forum.

            7.  Standing Committee members will submit a notice of resignation to the Chair of the Professional Forum at least two weeks prior to the resignation date.  At the request of the Committee concerned the Chair of the Forum will appoint a member to complete the unexpired term until the next regular election at which time the unexpired term will be filled by vote.

VIII. FRIENDS LEARNING PARTNERSHIP.

Each year a member of the Forum will be elected to serve on the Friends Learning Partnership Award which is chaired by the Dean of Libraries. 

IX.    PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

A. The Professional Advisory Committee serves as a vehicle for two-way communication between the Library Management Team and the professional library staff to provide additional feedback to the Library Management Team when broader input is desired. Library Management Team can route topics for discussion to the Chair, who will then call a meeting of the committee.

B. The duties of the Professional Advisory Committee are to advise the Library Management Team on matters of policy and other library wide issues.

C. The Professional Advisory Committee is composed of all members of the Forum who are not members of the Library Management Team.

 D. The Chair of the Forum will serve as the Chair of this committee, unless the Forum Chair is also a Library Management Team member. If the Professional Forum Chair is a Library Management Team member, an election will be held by the Professional Advisory Committee to elect a Professional Advisory Committee Chair—see Article X, Section C, Paragraph 11. Only those Forum members who are not also members of Library Management Team are eligible to run for Chair of the Professional Advisory Committee.

E. The Professional Advisory Committee will meet on an as-needed basis upon call of the Chair.

F. The Chair of the Professional Advisory Committee will attend Library Management Team meetings.

X.     NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS.

A.   The Committee on Nominations and Elections will consist of the Chair of the Forum, Chair Elect, and the Chair of each of the Standing Committees.

       B.   The duties and functions of the Committee on Nominations and Elections are:

            1.  To report at the appropriate times slates of nominees for all offices and committee memberships for which elections are to be held during the year, except when other provisions are made in these Bylaws; and,

            2.  Prepare, distribute, collect and count ballots, and report the results to the Forum.

       C.   Rules for nominations and elections are:

            1.  Nominations for University committees are to be presented at the April meeting by the Nominating and Elections Committee.  The list of nominees will be sent with the agenda prior to the meeting.

            2.  Nominations for Chair Elect and Standing Committees of the Forum are to be presented at the April meeting by the Nominating and Elections Committee.  The list of nominees will be sent with the agenda prior to the meeting.

            3.  Nominations from the floor (including self-nominations) are accepted. To be printed on a ballot the nomination must be supported by a second.

            4.  Nominations are subject to withdrawal by the nominee.

            5.  Ballots are to be sent to the members within four days of the meeting at which nominations are made.

            6.  Eight calendar days are to be allowed for ballots to be returned.

            7.  Election to Chair Elect will require a majority vote.  Election to Standing Committees will require a plurality.

            8.  If a runoff election is required, the number of candidates listed on the ballot is to be limited to twice the number to be elected. In case of a tie for the last position, all candidates involved in the tie will be included.

            9.  Ballots must be constructed and addressed so that when returned they are anonymous.

           10.  Ballots shall be counted by a meeting of the Committee on Nominations and Elections with a majority of the Committee present.

       11.  If a special election is required for Professional Advisory Committee Chair because the incoming Professional Forum Chair is a Library Management Team member, nominations shall be presented to the incumbent Professional Forum Chair by August fifteenth, ballots sent out to members of the Professional Advisory Committee by August nineteenth, and ballots returned by September first.  Ballot and counting procedures shall be as specified in the section of the By-Laws (article X, Section C).

           12.  After ballots are counted, they shall be deposited with the Chair of the Forum who shall keep them for thirty days, after which they may be discarded.

  XI.  PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY.

       The authority on all procedural questions not covered by the Bylaws or rules of the Forum is the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order.

  XII. AMENDMENTS.

       A.   Amendments to these Bylaws may be proposed at any meeting of the Forum.

       B.   Amendments are not to be adopted at the meeting at which they are first proposed.  At that meeting, they may be discussed for clarification and/or referred to a committee.

C.              Proposed amendments must be distributed to the membership, through the minutes or otherwise, at least eight days prior to the meeting at which the vote on their adoption is to be conducted.

D.   Adoption of amendments to these Bylaws requires two-

     thirds of the legal votes cast.

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revised 8/29/1995 (jkw); 5/19/1997 (klh);4/26/1999 (ljh); 9/24/01 (lms);
4/22/02 (lms); 12/4/02 (bg, bsj, jrn);
4/2/03(bg, bsj, jrn);
9/1/04 (dn, jb)
4/22/02 (lms); 12/4/02 (bg, bsj, jrn);
4/2/03(bg, bsj, jrn);
9/1/04 (dn, jb)